BigBlueButton vs OpenVidu
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video conferencing options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
BigBlueButton
Virtual classroom and web conferencing for education
VS
OpenVidu
Self-hosted platform for real-time video applications
| Feature | BigBlueButton | OpenVidu |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Video Conferencing | Video Conferencing |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,182 | ★ 2,123 |
| First released | 2009 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Zoom, Microsoft Teams | Twilio Video, Agora |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenVidu if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is BigBlueButton or OpenVidu better?
Neither is universally better. BigBlueButton has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are BigBlueButton and OpenVidu free and open-source?
Yes. BigBlueButton is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and OpenVidu under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BigBlueButton and OpenVidu with Docker?
BigBlueButton: check the project docs for container support. OpenVidu: yes.